Sandblasting induced stress release and enhanced adhesion strength of diamond films deposited on austenite stainless steel

Abstract We firstly used sandblasting to treat austenite stainless steel and then deposited a Cr/CrN interlayer by close field unbalanced magnetron sputtering on it. After that, diamond films were prepared on the interlayer. It is found that the sandblasting process induces phase transition from austenite to martensite in the surface region of the stainless steel, which decreases thermal stress in diamond films due to lower thermal expansion coefficient of martensite phase compared with that of austenite phase. The sandblasting also makes stainless steel’s surface rough and the Cr/CrN interlayer film inherits the rough surface. This decreases the carburization extent of the interlayer, increases nucleation density and modifies the stress distribution. Due to lower residual stress and small extent of the interlayer’s carburization, the diamond film on sandblast treated austenite stainless steel shows enhanced adhesion strength.